4.  The first applicant was born in 1956 and lives in the town of Kamyanets-Podilskyy. The second applicant was born in 1925 and lives in the village of Slobidka Gumenetska, the Khmelnytskyy Region.
5.  In February 1993 the first applicant signed a deed of gift (“the first deed”) for the house belonging to Mr I. Sh., her husband, an advocate by profession, in favour of the second applicant. This deed was certified by the village council, but it was never registered on the local real-estate register.
6.  In August 1993 the first applicant and Mr I. Sh. divorced.
7.  In November 1993 Mr I. Sh. gave the first applicant power of attorney to manage his property in connection with his decision to leave the country. In August 1994 the first applicant, acting on the basis of this power of attorney, signed at a notary office a deed of gift for the house (“the second deed”) in favour of the second applicant, making no reference to the previous deed.
8.  Having returned from abroad, Mr I. Sh. challenged the validity of the first deed before the Kamyanets-Podilskyy District Court. On 20 December 1994 the court annulled the first deed, having found that at the material time the first applicant had had no right to dispose of Mr I. Sh.’s house. This judgment was not appealed against and became final.
9.  On 3 November 1995 Mr I. Sh. challenged the second deed of gift.
10.  On 18 June 1996 the Kamyanets-Podilskyy Court annulled the second deed, having found that when it had been signed the disputed house had already belonged to the second applicant under the first deed, then in force. The first applicant appealed.
11.  On 18 July 1996 the Khmelnytskyy Regional Court (“the Regional Court”)[1] quashed this judgment and remitted the case for a fresh consideration. The court noted, in particular, that the first-instance court had incorrectly interpreted the law, since the first deed should have been considered null and void from the date of its signature.
12.  On 2 December 1996 the proceedings were transferred to the Dunayevetskyy Court.
13.  On 15 December 1998 the Dunayevetskyy Court dismissed Mr I. Sh.’s claims, having found that the first deed had been null and void from the date of signature and the second deed had been concluded on the basis of a valid power of attorney given by Mr I.Sh. to the first applicant.
14.  On 4 February 1999 the Regional Court quashed this judgment on Mr I. Sh.’s appeal and remitted the case for a fresh consideration. It found, in particular, that the first-instance court had given insufficient weight to the fact that the first deed had not been formally annulled at the time when the second deed had been concluded.
15.  On 26 April 1999 the Dunayevetskyy Court allowed Mr I. Sh.’s claims, referring essentially to the same grounds as the Kamyanets-Podilskyy Court in its judgment of 18 June 1996. The applicants appealed.
16.  On 27 May 1999 the Regional Court upheld the judgment and it became final.
17.  On 9 June 2000 the Presidium of the Regional Court quashed the judgments of 26 April and 27 May 1999, following an objection (протест) introduced by the Deputy President of the Supreme Court and remitted the case for a fresh consideration. The Presidium instructed the courts to pay due regard to the fact that the first deed should have been considered null and void as of the date of its signature. The proceedings were transferred to the Kamyanets-Podilskyy Town Court.
18.  There were no hearings scheduled between 10 June and 26 November 2000.
19.  In the meantime, Mr I. Sh. sold the disputed house to a certain Mr V. P. The second applicant challenged the validity of the sale contract.
20.  On 2 April 2001 the Kamyanets-Podilskyy Town Court annulled the second deed as fictitious, having observed that the second applicant had never registered her ownership of the disputed house and had resided in another locality. The court further declared the sale contract signed between Mr I.Sh and Mr V.P valid. The second applicant appealed.
21.  On 28 August 2001 the Regional Court quashed this judgment and rendered a new one, dismissing the claims of both parties. In particular, the court ruled that the second deed had not been fictitious, but that the sale contract with Mr V. P. could not be annulled, since it had been concluded in good faith at a time when there existed a final judgment recognizing that Mr I. Sh. was the owner of the disputed house. The second applicant appealed in cassation before the Supreme Court.
22.  On 14 August 2002 the Supreme Court quashed the judgment of 28 August 2001, having found that the Regional Court could not recognize both the second deed and the sale contract as valid, and remitted the case for a fresh consideration on appeal.
23.  On 6 November 2002 the Regional Court quashed the judgment of 2 April 2001 and remitted the case for a fresh consideration at first instance. It observed, in particular, that the first-instance court had erred in its statement that the second applicant had not registered her ownership of the house and had never used it. It noted that the latter had been registered as the house’s resident and allowed her daughter (the first applicant) and her grandson to live there.
24.  In the meantime, Mr V. P. had sold the house to Mr O. Ch. The latter instituted proceedings against the applicants and the first applicant’s son, seeking to enjoin them from interference with his property right. In particular, he complained that the first applicant and her son unlawfully resided in the house without having registered their residence, while the second applicant, who resided in another locality, unlawfully remained registered as a resident. The second applicant lodged a counterclaim, challenging Mr O. Ch.’s title to the house. These proceedings were joined to the initial proceedings and referred back to the Kamyanets-Podilskyy District Court.
25.  On 6 March 2003 the Kamyanets-Podilskyy District Court found that both sale contracts were valid, since they had been concluded in good faith and on the basis of the title recognized by judgments then in force. However, it found that the second deed of gift had also been lawful and awarded the second applicant 33,192[2] Ukrainian hryvnya[s] (UAH) in damages against Mr I. Sh. in compensation for the loss of the house. The court further obliged the second applicant to deregister her residence and ordered the eviction of the first applicant and her son.
26.  On 25 March 2003 the applicants and Mr I. Sh. appealed.
27.  On 11 July 2003 the Regional Court dismissed their appeals.
28.  On 30 July 2003 the applicants appealed in cassation before the Supreme Court.
29.  On 18 December 2003 the Supreme Court dismissed the applicants’ appeal in cassation.
30.  According to the records provided by the Government, in the course of the proceedings falling within the Court’s competence, the domestic courts scheduled some twenty-five hearings between September 1997 and December 2003. Sixteen hearings were adjourned because one or more parties to the domestic proceedings or witnesses failed to attend. Out of these adjourned hearings, the applicants were entirely responsible for the adjournment of four hearings.